The Bet
by Wolfic
Summary: Amid all the destruction of the Mahora Festival, two classmates clash in battle. Light Nagase Kaede X Tatsumiya Mana. Spoilers for chapters 153 to chapters 161


**The Bet**

**By Wolfic**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima and if I did I would probably screw it up. The person who does own it, is Ken Akamatsu.**

A/N: Sorry everyone for the long hiatus. A lot of things have come up. School, National Novel Writing Month, and various other things. And over that long break, I had of course discovered many new mangas/animes, which of include Mahou Sensei Negima, which in my opinion is one of the greatest mangas ever created. So without further ado, here we go, my first try at a Negima fic. The reason I chose this couple was because, well, they were the only couple I could associated an idea with. Although I don't fully support this couple, I still enjoy the couple and prefer them over many others.

"Come on! We're going!" Haruna yelled, barely cutting through the sounds of the destruction of the Mahora festival.

"I'm sorry!" Yue apologized as she ran after Haruna.

"Kaede-san, please be careful!" Negi's worried voice rang out as his footsteps, along with those of Nodoka, Haruna, and Yue quickly died, meaning that student #20 Nagase Kaede, was now by herself.

Her face calm as she faced in the direction of a tall building in the distance, her voice carrying over a speaker in a nearby trolley to Mana. "You let them off pretty easy –de gozaruna. Is it alright not to shoot them-de gozaru?"

Mana smiled at the lone ninja so far away as her black cloak billowed around her. "You'd just knock them down anyway, right? My principle is to not waste bullets you see. When I wasn't able to take them out with that one shot, I already lost. So then Kaede, how about a bet before we begin?

Kaede face remained impassive as she responded. "What are the wages-de gozaru?"

"You'll find out if you lose." Mana replied, her voice containing traces of humor.

"Very well then-de gozaru." Kaede replied, as she readied herself for battle.

"Now, let's do this." Mana said, eyes lighting up as she pulled out her Heckler & Koch PSG1. Aiming quickly she fired off a shot at the Kouga ninja, signaling the start of the fight.

Leaping away, Kaede quickly made her way around the buildings as bullets flew around her, creating the infamous dark circular portals upon impact. Trying to quickly get away from the people, she heard bullets hitting the side of buildings.

A bullet then made its way to a metal rail, denting it greatly as it bounced off and hit a building wall, where Kaede was recently. _Bounced shots huh. _ Kaede thought as she quickly evaded. _Such accurate shooting even when I'm closing in using instant movement. I won't be able to evade them forever if ricochet attacks are included. As expected of Mana-de gozaruna._ Kaede, with that silent complement still fresh in her mind, rebounded off of two building walls, quickly rising into the air.

_Another 50m._ Making her way into open view she landed on the side of a building. Feeling the building wall beneath her feet she began to bend her legs like a spring. _It's now or never. First, close in on the enemy-de gozaru. Shukuchi Mukyou!_ A loud explosion was heard as the cement beneath her feet crumbled away completely as she glided through the air, nearing in on the lone building of which her opponent waited.

_A super long distance instant movement technique!? _ Not taking time to dwell on that thought, Mana quickly ejected a bullet shell and reloaded, clicking the bolt back into place. Lifting the rifle so that the scope aligned with her violet eyes she aimed at the incoming target.

Kaede wordlessly split into her 16 clones as she quickly analyzed her opponent. _Mana's gun is bolt action. There is a slight gap between reloads. _ With Mana's one weakness in mind, Kaede hastened her flight.

Mana however was unfazed by the increasing number of targets as she fired off another bullet. _Your bluffs won't work against me. _She thought. It was as if she knew victory was already at hand.

_If I can evade this one… _Kaede thought. However she had to let the thought end there as she glanced at the incoming bullet. A solution in mind, Kaede quickly grasped the hand of one of her clones and pulled herself forward, her short ninja blade drawn out.

_She used her clone as a stepping stone! _Taking her opponent's clever move in stride, Mana quickly reloaded the next bullet. This time, she had to make sure to hit the real one.

_Dodged it!_ Kaede thought triumphantly as she readied her feet against the air. It was as if she were on solid ground. She hastily prepared to near in on her opponent. _Void instant movement!_ But before she could initiate her technique, she noticed that Mana had suddenly disappeared, discarding her cloak.

Before a reasonable solution appeared in her mind, she felt a presence behind her and quickly flipped through the air, sighting her opponent. As the glowing magic circle vanished beneath Mana, her FN P90 had already begun quickly rapid firing at the female ninja.

"Displacement magic charm!" Kaede exclaimed in shock, voicing the solution to Mana's sudden appearance.

"They're quite expensive at 800 thousand a piece, but against you, it's worth it." Mana said with a smile as she waved the thin slip of paper before Kaede.

"It's an honor to hear that-de gozaruna" Kaede responded with a smile mirroring Mana's as she brought her short blade up to meet Mana.

Suddenly the air was lit with an explosion as the two colossal forces met. A time warp portal was created but apparently the ninja had slipped from its grasp as it vanished. Clearing from the smoke, both of the female fighters unscathed, they smiled at each other as they engaged in aerial combat. Mana with her dual IMI Desert Eagles and Kaede with her twin ninja blades.

With neither of them letting up, Kaede sliced the air with her blades, dodging various shots from Mana. Letting one of her blades loose, it flew through the air like a kunai, zeroing in on Mana's face. Mana moved her head however, to let the blade fly by her face. Bringing up her left gun she knocked the other blade out of Kaede's hand and with her right gun, she placed it to Kaede's forehead, smiling at how victory was soon to be hers.

However, if Kaede felt like she was about to lose, she hid it well as she quickly grasped Mana's wrists. Yanking the gun away from her face Kaede's right hand grasped Mana's left one, finding the trigger. Mana not taking time to struggle, fired off a bullet with her other firearm into Kaede's stomach as Kaede at the same time, pulled the trigger into Mana's chest.

Feeling both bullets make contact against their flesh, Kaede grinned at Mana as the darkness swirled around them, containing them within the black spheres. Feeling their bodies leave the air, neither of them relented their grips as they traveled to the future. The trip was quick and painless, as they soon found them selves in a broad field.

As the shadows cleared, Kaede felt herself fall into a lake, with Mana on top of her, neither of them deciding to give up their fighting spirits. "Fufufu, that we would hit each other at the same time. Let's say it's a draw de-gozaru?" Kaede said, her grin still directed at the female mercenary positioned above her.

"No, because I couldn't fulfill my duty as Chao's bodyguard the last steps of the plan, it should be my loss." Mana replied as Kaede's grip loosened. Standing up, her dual guns at her sides, she steered the conversation into the situation at hand. "So what do you want for winning the bet?"

Kaede got up slowly, her face containing the same smile she had exhibited minutes ago. It was clear she had already decided her prize long ago. Wordlessly, she made her way up to Mana, their faces barely a few inches from each other. Kaede's green eyes met Mana's bright violet blue ones as her lips quickly captured Mana's, closing the space between them.

Not taking time to look at Mana's reaction, or caring at who would see them, she merely enjoyed the pure bliss of her contact with the gunslinger, before she slowly broke contact from Mana's face. Glancing at the now wide eyed Mana and the rosy hue that inhabited Mana's dark skin, Kaede silently turned around and walked away, making her way to the festivities.

Kaede couldn't help but take time to reflect on Mana's actions as she made her way to the people, her eyes taking in the view of the festival's end. Negi was off in the distance talking to Chao. While Takamichi was busy quelling the disruptive actions of several of the people. Haruna, Misa, and Misora were chasing after Yuuna who made a hasty retreat to protect her meal tickets. It was a happy scene. It was as if Chao had never threatened to reveal magic at all.

As for Mana's reaction, Kaede had finally that it was one that was vastly unlike her. Never before had the mysterious fighter ever displayed any signs of embarrassment, or emotions linked to surprised shock like that.

Sure Mana, had times when she was friendly and joyful to be around, but mostly she kept to herself and was always cold in her work. While all these thoughts bounced around in her brain, Kaede had come to the conclusion that, while being able to get such a foreign emotion from Mana, was strange in essence, it was also very cute to see, and that, was reward enough.


End file.
